Faith No More Honors Pussy Riot at Moscow Show

The Moscow Times

Jul. 04 2012 00:00

Last edited 18:40

ReutersWomen dressed like Pussy Riot punk rockers performing during a concert by Faith No More late Monday.

Five women dressed like members of female punk group Pussy Riot took the stage during a U.S. band's Moscow concert, shouting anti-Putin slogans and calling on the audience to support suspected band members jailed on hooliganism charges.

When Faith No More was expected to sing one of its hits in Moscow's Stadium Live club late Monday, the audience instead saw five women wearing colorful facemasks — a symbol associated with Pussy Riot, a band that has been in the media spotlight since giving an anti-Kremlin performance in Christ the Savior Cathedral in February.

Three suspected band members have been placed under arrest and face up to seven years in prison.

At the Monday performance, the women lit flares and shouted anti-Putin slogans. A YouTube video credited to Novaya Gazeta shows them unfolding a banner urging people to go to the Tagansky District Court on Wednesday, when the Pussy Riot case will be heard.

Faith No More also performed their final songs in colorful masks as a tribute, Interfax reported.

The female punk band has split Russian society, with some urging their prosecution for their sacrilegious performance and others calling for mercy.

This is not the first time that international artists have shown support for Pussy Riot. On June 12, Beastie Boys member Adam Horowitz took part in a New York gig calling for the women's release.

No normalization of ties between Ukraine and Russia is likely unless the region of Crimea, now under Russian control, is returned to Kiev's sovereignty, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Tuesday.

Boris Nemtsov, an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin and Russia's role in the Ukraine crisis, has been shot dead outside the Kremlin in a murder that underscored the risks taken by the Russian opposition.

The murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov has dampened any hope for a peaceful political transition in Russia away from President Vladimir Putin's government, Garry Kasparov, a prominent opposition voice, has said.

A spokesperson for Moscow's information technology department has denied media reports that some of the surveillance cameras around the Kremlin had been switched off at the time of Boris Nemtsov's murder.

The U.S. State Department and FBI have announced a $3 million reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Russian Yevgeny Bogachev, the highest bounty U.S. authorities have ever offered in a cyber case.